Eroded Adobe and Allergic Anaphylaxis (well almost)

Following the conclusion of excavation fieldwork for the Edge of Salado project that I ran in conjunction with Jeff Clark and Bill Doelle at Archaeology Southwest (and for which I am finalizing reports and some articles still), the tireless Mike Brack (from Desert Archaeology) and I went out and finished up some mapping odds and ends. This was back in October 2014. Mostly we were shooting in a few remnant features and then trying to get a UAV up on a site we had worked on but been unable to fly before because of the continuous high speed drafts coming out of the mountains. The second picture below is from us working on an Animas phase (A.D. 1150-1450) site in the Sulphur Springs valley. *Sidenote, when you see that AD 1450 date for sites in southern Arizona, read it as “probably at least to this period, but possibly later. Our end dates in that area aren’t that awesome and are built on relatively few absolute dates.*

Tonto Polychrome effigy vessel from a local collection in SE Arizona (not from a site I worked on). I and other colleagues visited this person to talk to them about site stewardship principles and ethical treatment of human remains.

This particular site, and many from this period, have large amounts of Roosevelt Red Ware (some have few RRW and lots of Chihuahuan Polychromes which indicates some important social processes of incorporation into a couple of different styles of leadership movements. You can read the third case study in my dissertation or wait for the upcoming articles if you want to know more), adobe walls (mostly eroded/melted) with cimiento (rocks embedded into the earth) footings, and often obsidian artifacts (although not always). Anyways, Mike and I were out visiting 5 sites and then stopping by an excavation at Desolation Ranch that was being conducted by the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS). Mike was there to map and then I was going to help date a Classic period/Animas phase component at the site (FYI, Archaeology Southwest now owns and preserves most of this site thanks to a wonderful grant from the Smith family).

Mike finding a hole in the amaranth and scrub mesquite.

Again, this was the fall. Usually, in the southern American Southwest, you have little ground cover at this period. But there had been almost continuous rain for the previous month and the weeds were sort of shocked into a false spring. Blooming plants were everywhere, but because of the nature of what is attracted to disturbed soil in the southern American Southwest Mike and I were walking through fields of 4 to 7 foot tall Amaranth and Russian Thistle (tumbleweed). It was the tallest I’d seen weeds in this part of the SW. And it led to what would eventually be a long term allergic issue that had some unpleasant physical side effects for me. Anyways, long story short, I’ve been around Russian Thistle a lot, but usually only in concentrations were the plant is dead, blowing all over and piling up. Rarely when it is blooming in concentrated like this. My body kind of broke. When I got back to Tucson, I visited my primary care provider and they ran an allergy test and started to freak out about how high my counts were for Russian Thistle. I was apparently very close to going into anaphylactic shock from it. A week later. My buddy Will Russell, however, was lucky enough to actually go into anaphylaxis from plants while in the field. Ahh the joys of life.

Anyways, beyond that unpleasantness, the trip was pretty wonderful and included a desert box turtle that I saved from getting squished.

A Gila monster that Mike and I noticed.

A bear cub hanging out in a tree at night over where we were all camping with AAHS that Jesse Ballenger and a few others noticed. I subsequently moved inside. Mostly because I was offered a bed because I couldn’t breathe. And because I didn’t want to be on the ground when trash eating bears are nearby. The problem we have with bears eating trash in the US SW has always made me wonder if those stockades we see around Pueblo I sites in the northern Southwest aren’t actually an attempt to deal with the problems (i.e. bear attacks) of bear/human interactions in trash rich environments.

Some nice deer that didn’t want to drop on my head during the cold embrace of night.

And some excellent overgrowth, because of the late rains, of native squashes and Devil’s Claw (which the O’odham use for basket weaving).

All around a good work trip with some nice photos that I thought you all might enjoy.